cocktail review no. 61 - The Green-Tailed Dragon of the Maroon Morning

This picture is highly satirical.

Sounds like a head trip, don't it? And it would be, if you mistakenly confused it with this drink.

But you know me. I get (most) of my classic drinks from one source, and one source only: The Bartender's Bible, by Gary Regan. One thousand and one recipes to suit your every need. This one is another lovely tropical cocktail.

The only thing unusual about it is the name. Okay, yeah, and a few of the ingredients.

• 1½ ounces light rum
• ½ melon liqueur
• 1 ounce pineapple juice
• ½ lime juice
• 1 teaspoon orgeat syrup
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 1 teaspoon cherry brandy

In a blender, combine the rum, melon liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice and orgeat syrup with the crushed ice. Blend well and pour into an old-fashioned glass. Drop the cherry brandy into the center.

The Sleeping Dragon, they might as well have named it. Not merely for its habit of lunging out of the crystal cave and biting you on the ass, but for its surprisingly delicate flavor as well.

Let me delineate here and now that, (a) I was slightly drunk when I originally mixed this libation, so my discourse on its charms may not be lucid; and (b) due to (a), I forgot to drop the cherry brandy into the drink. I just blended it all together.

Not much was lost. Light rum is sweet and faintly redolent of spice, but possesses none of the fire and flavor of darker rums. Therefore its role in mixed drinks becomes something like vodka: a "negative" or binding agent which maintains a characteristic undertone while allowing other flavors to be stacked on top of it, like Lego bricks. Rum possess an inherent sweetness which greatly enhances any tropical drink (and a great many non-tropical highballs besides). This sweetness is the basis for the Green-Tailed Dragon, which is then accentuated by the lime juice (providing a sour citrus sting); the pineapple juice (its pleasant flavor punctuating the rummy backdrop); the melon liqueur (a gustatory counterpoint which steals the show—the flavor both outshines the rum while simultaneously standing on its shoulders, lending the Dragon a pleasant fruity bouquet and a smooth finish); and the orgeat syrup (which, if you'll recall, is an infusion of citrus flavors, almonds and rose water, combining to form an extremely sweet medley). The cherry brandy is the finisher: though present in small doses, it retains its potency, rendering the drink a luxuriant dark red color and providing a deep fruity overtone to the finish.

Trust me when I say this is nothing like any tropical drink you've sampled before.

Then again, you don't have to take my word for it.

Just forgive the bartender for the funny look he gives you when you belly up to the bar and request "The Green-Tailed Dragon of the Maroon Morning."